Art Rupe
1
-
Year:
2011
-
Inducted by:
Lloyd Price
-
Category:
Ahmet Ertegun Award
Introduction
Rock and roll as we know it would not exist without Art Rupe.
He brought R&B and soul into the mainstream and launched Little Richard’s career. Rupe’s fastidious work ethic and uncanny musical intuition shaped the evolution of rock.
Lloyd Price Inducts & Accepts for Art Rupe
Lloyd Price Inducts & Accepts for Art Rupe at the 2011 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony-
![]()
Lloyd Price Inducts & Accepts for Art Rupe00:05:32 -
![]()
Art Rupe Discusses Sam Cooke & "You Send Me"00:05:37 -
![]()
Art Rupe discusses Little Richard's Tutti Frutti00:06:39
Hall of Fame Essay
2011
As founder of Specialty Records, one of the premier independent labels of the rock & roll era, Art Rupe signed and recorded numerous vanguard artists in the areas of rhythm & blues, gospel, and rock & roll.
He was also an important figure in the postwar music industry, helming a label that helped bring a niche market (rhythm & blues) into the mainstream. Beyond that, Specialty played a role in igniting the rock & roll revolution by introducing the world to the incendiary music of Little Richard.
